In today’s media environment enterprises are under intense pressure to improve content monetization and maximize operational efficiency. They’re expected to do more—to create more content for more platforms and deliver it to more people—so they have to find new ways to secure revenues, differentiate services to earn audience loyalty, and deliver all these services at a lower cost.
One of the key routes to achieving this goal is through media asset management (MAM). Originally, asset management was seen as a low-level function, a means of keeping track of content, especially as the repository became a set of files stored on servers or in a data archive.
Today, the MAM system is seen as a key strategic investment. It provides wide-scale access to content, and it can take an active role in identifying and promoting content that has a revenue opportunity attached to it. And as the repository of metadata, it’s seen as the heart of workflow processes and automation. MAM should today be seen as the workflow engine, driving automated processes as much as possible, and thereby reducing costs as well as serving more markets and outlets.
To determine today’s attitudes towards MAM, Avid recently commissioned international research company Ovum Consulting to survey business leaders on their views. Ovum spoke to 125 individuals – mainly at C or board level – in 21 countries.
Interestingly, traditional media businesses still seem to have a traditional view on MAM. It’s a “cost-effective system to manage your audio and media content”, said the CIO of one of the big six film studios. The CTO of one of the largest cable operators in the US said it’s for “maintenance of premium media content”.
Operational efficiency
More advanced awareness of the possibilities came from new entrants into the industry. The CEO of a major French football club, for instance, said that MAM systems should be “built keeping flexibility and scalability in mind. Asset management can be configured to strengthen production across multiple locations and platforms.” And the president of a post-production facility pointed out that “asset management gives a whole new meaning to content lifecycle management. The core benefit is to reduce operational costs.”
Overall, though, the ability to increase operational efficiency is valued. 66% of respondents felt that their MAM system had lowered their multiplatform distribution costs. 50% said it had improved real-time collaboration between creative media
MEDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT: THE KEY TO BUSINESS SUCCESS
by Kevin Usher
BROADCAST BEAT MAGAZINE
IBC Issue September 2015
56